Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Two Harbors Investment Corp. (NYSE:TWO)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $14.28 and last traded at $14.22, with a volume of 236176 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $14.18.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Compass Point cut their price target on shares of Two Harbors Investment from $15.75 to $14.75 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 25th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Two Harbors Investment in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Two Harbors Investment from $11.00 to $12.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Two Harbors Investment from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Two Harbors Investment from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $13.96.

Two Harbors Investment Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $12.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.64. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.61 and a beta of 1.84.

Two Harbors Investment (NYSE:TWO) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.07). Two Harbors Investment had a net margin of 66.24% and a return on equity of 6.52%. On average, analysts expect that Two Harbors Investment Corp. will post 0.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Two Harbors Investment Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 29th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd were given a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.90%. Two Harbors Investment’s payout ratio is currently 85.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Two Harbors Investment

In related news, CIO Nicholas Letica sold 6,040 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.13, for a total value of $67,225.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 174,672 shares in the company, valued at $1,944,099.36. This trade represents a 3.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Rebecca B. Sandberg sold 2,561 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.96, for a total transaction of $33,190.56. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,902,566.88. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,136 shares of company stock valued at $377,154. 0.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Two Harbors Investment

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TWO. Simplify Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Two Harbors Investment by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 11.3% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,100 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 139,995 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,656,000 after buying an additional 1,770 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 62,030 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $734,000 after buying an additional 2,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Two Harbors Investment by 818.5% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 2,963 shares in the last quarter. 64.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Two Harbors Investment

Two Harbors Investment Corp. invests in, finances, and manages mortgage servicing rights (MSRs), agency residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), and other financial assets through RoundPoint in the United States. The company target assets include agency RMBS collateralized by fixed rate mortgage loans, adjustable rate mortgage loans, hybrid mortgage loans, or derivatives; and other assets, such as financial and mortgage-related assets, including non-agency securities and non-hedging transactions.